WA AG Brown leads 20 states in FEMA funding cut lawsuit

SEATTLE - Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown is leading 20 states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration. 

The lawsuit states that the Trump administration illegally shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) bipartisan Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, and is calling for a preliminary injunction to prevent the administration from spending BRIC funds for other uses, the reversal of the termination of BRIC and the restoration of BRIC funds to communities that relied on them.

What we know:

The BRIC program has been serving communities for the past 30 years by providing resources to properly prepare for natural disasters. 

BRIC funds and resources have allowed communities to protect property, save money that may have been on recovery costs and saved lives. A study concluded that every dollar BRIC receives from FEMA for community natural disaster mitigation preparations has saved an average of six dollars in costs that may have been used in post-disaster efforts. 

The termination of the program has halted projects currently in development and has put communities prone to natural disasters at risk across the country. 

"This illegal cut endangers the communities most vulnerable to natural disasters," AG Brown said in a statement. "Communities and states face devastating consequences when the federal government doesn’t meet its obligations to the public, and I will hold the Trump administration accountable for abandoning their safety."

Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Congress passed a law stating FEMA would protect communities through four functions: mitigation, preparation, response and recovery. The BRIC program served as the mitigation function. 

Local perspective:

FEMA has allocated around $4.5 billion to nearly 2,000 BRIC projects across the country. 

Washington state currently has 27 open BRIC projects, totaling to $182 million in funding. Nearly three quarters of that funding goes to small towns and rural communities across the state. 

The money goes towards projects including, but not limited to, constructing flood walls in Hoquiam and generating electricity for hospitals and school districts in Klickitat County if the power goes out during severe weather. 

What's next:

AG Brown and the coalition of attorneys general claim that FEMA's decision to abruptly terminate BRIC is a violation of Congress's decision to fund it and that it violates the Separation of Powers and the Administrative Procedure Act. 

 The states joining Washington in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, IL, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NJ, NY, NC, OR, RI, VT, WI and the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

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